The La Jolla Playhouse, in its online description of the show, calls it “a particular look at contemporary ‘realities’ and the intertwining of archetypal patterns that have both plagued, epitomized and exalted the idea of the city in collective memory.”

Ultimately, however, you’ll decide what “Paper Cities” is.

Supported by a San Diego Foundation Creative Catalyst grant, Gunn and Rountree will workshop their experimental, multimedia, puppet-centric project tonight in the first of three free presentations at the Playhouse. The performance will be followed by a discussion, as the artists are eager to talk to audience members about their response and plan on spending another year further developing the piece.

“It feels a little risky, because we’re in a theater,” said Rountree, whose individual work tends toward the visual. “We are a little bit between theater and visual art and performance art. So it’s risky for us, especially to be at the Playhouse, where there’s such a rich tradition. But it’s also exciting.”

At The La Jolla Playhouse Artists Iain Gunn and Bridget Rountree are preparing to present a show called &quot;Paper Cities.&quot; Bridget Rountree works on one of the puppets used in the show.

At The La Jolla Playhouse Artists Iain Gunn and Bridget Rountree are preparing to present a show called "Paper Cities." Bridget Rountree works on one of the puppets used in the show.

The Playhouse, with its history of supporting artistic experimentation, should be an ideal environment for Gunn and Rountree, but they’d be equally at home in an art gallery, a concert hall, a classroom, or even on the street. They’ve found that puppetry can be immediately accessible anywhere.

“One of the great things about the art form is right off the bat, you are asking people to take this leap with you,” said Rountree.

“Everybody knows what it is,” said Gunn. “So basically, you have this relationship with the audience where everybody agrees to suspend disbelief right away.”

And once you’ve suspended disbelief, anything can happen.

“You have a lot of freedom to do things that you can’t normally do,” Rountree said. “Potentially everything becomes a puppet. In the show, we manipulate everything as if it’s a puppet, whether a saw or a ladder.”

Of course Gunn and Rountree can only do so much. To make that saw come to life — to make their “Paper Cities” more than just a bunch of cardboard — the audience also has to bring something to it.

Iain Gunn and Bridget Rountree formed Animal Cracker Conspiracy in 2004 “to explore puppetry as a radical art form that decenters expectations, dedicated to the suspension of disbelief by investing in the unknown and creation of mystery.”